Undertale: The end of the beginning
by Alamandorious
Summary: How many times? How many times has it been that the timeline has been reset? How many times has the attempt been made to save him? I've lost count...and I'm getting sick of Frisk failing. I've had time to think, time to reflect...and I know a way to do it. I'm stepping in...but after this, I'm gone...and I'll need you...yes, you...to make sure that Frisk does what I say.
1. Prologue

Voice: *...ke up.

You feel someone shake you.

Voice: *Wake up.

You feel that you're sitting up against a stone wall, your legs stretched out in front of you. Your body hurts. You feel someone shake you again.

Voice: *I know you're awake, open your eyes.

You open your eyes and see a mirror reflection of you. Well...not so much. Their eyes are red, and they're wearing a green and yellow striped shirt. Currently, they're crouched over your legs, hands resting on knees, chin resting on hands, staring at your face with a bored expression on theirs.

Chara: *...you're weird.

You're taken slightly aback by that proclamation. Your know who this is, they've been haunting your dreams...trying to take control of you through the many saves...and yet, somehow, right now you don't feel frightened of them.

Chara: *How many times are you going to reset, trying to save him?

You: *As long as it takes. He deserves a happy ending the most, out of everyone.

Chara rolls their eyes.

Chara: *Even if it means losing yourself, forever?

You blink slightly.

Chara sighs.

Chara: *Look...we've been together for a long, long time now. I've seen you do many great things, and do many terrible things. At first, it was all a game for me, and a chance to try to get my revenge against humanity again.

Chara reaches down onto the ground and picks up their knife, bringing it up in front of their face, lightly poking the tip of it with their index finger as they stare at it.

Chara: *You're going to destroy yourself trying. How you've lasted this long is amazing on its own.

You:*Whenever I think about him trapped alone, forever, existing in the state he's in, it fills me with DETERMINATION to rescue him.

Chara snorts slightly.

Chara: *You don't even realize it. Haven't you noticed that it hurts now, to use the power of SAVE? Don't you feel...stretched?

You have noticed the last few times that there's an ache deep within you, and you've been more tired each time you restart the timeline.

You: *...

Chara looking into your eyes again.

Chara: *It's slowly eroding your SOUL. That power wasn't meant to be used for so long...especially since you've already gotten the good ending several times already.

You: *The good ending...not the best ending.

Chara puts their knife down, and stares off to the side.

Chara: *Look...I've had time to watch you. You're...different. I hated you, at first, and for a very long time...and to be honest, I still don't like you.

Chara's eyes flick up to you again, and they give you a lopsided smile. It isn't friendly, but it isn't outright hostile either.

Chara: *Most importantly...I've seen how hard you've been trying to save him...a monster, who has done acts more unspeakable than even you in some timelines.

You look down, ashamed of those times when the frustration and bitterness of failure would get to you, throwing you into a fit of rage...letting Chara take control of you.

Chara: *Asriel was right...I wasn't the best person. I hated humans for what they did to me...hated them with every fibre of my being, with my very SOUL. And I used him, and our parents, to try to get revenge.

Chara sighs deeply, closing their eyes.

Chara: *But I did love them. They were...kind. They treated me as one of their own...Asriel was my best friend, my brother in every way but blood...

Chara: *...and watching you try so hard to save him, and give them happiness...I feel regret for how things turned out.

Chara opens their eyes, and a strange, familiar look enters them, one you've seen in the mirror in your own.

Chara: *And I'm getting tired of seeing you fail...and seeing you slowly destroy yourself before you can save him.

Chara gives you that lopsided smile again.

Chara: *So here's the deal. What Asriel is missing...is his SOUL. I'm going to give you mine, so you can give it to him.

You blink a few times, before looking at Chara suspiciously.

Chara rolls their eyes.

Chara: *No, this isn't some trick to possess Asriel. And that's not really how it works, either, dummy.

A surprisingly soft expression forms on Chara's face.

Chara: *You know as well as I do, when you die your SOUL fragments. You don't need all of the fragments to form a working SOUL...if you leave out one of the fragments, it will be a blank slate...because inevitably what gets left out is the personality of the original person.

Chara begins rocking back and forth on their feet, resting their arms across their knees again and their chin on top of their arms.

Chara: *Basically...I want you to take all but one fragment of my SOUL...and give it to Asriel.

You: *But won't that mean...

Chara: *That I'll be...gone? Yes, it will. I'll be forever lost to the void between timelines, never to see anyone again, never to be seen again. But after everything I've done...

Chara smiles, genuinely this time.

Chara: *I think it's my way of repenting. Of giving someone I actually care for a second chance.

Suddenly, the knife is directly in front of your face, the tip an inch from your nose. You almost go cross-eyed trying to look at it.

Chara: *If you screw this up, or if you hurt him in any way, I WILL claw my way back and make your life a living hell...got it?

You swallow a bit and nod.

The knife is lowered again.

Chara: *Good. Now that we're clear...it's time for you to finish returning to the start of the timeline.

Chara stands up, offering their hand and pulling you to your feet when you take it.

You: *How will this work?

Chara: *It's already done. The fragments of my soul are hidden in yours...and when the time is right, you'll know when to use them. Remember...all but one piece. His DETERMINATION will fill the hole with his personality, and will make it whole. It will become his SOUL, instead of mine.

Chara's face grows grim for a moment, before they turn and starts to walk away.

Chara: *Remember, you're on limited time...your SOUL can't take much more of this. I'd say you have three, maybe four more SAVEs before it breaks and fades away...and not even your DETERMINATION will save you then.

Slowly, they get further and further away, fading into the darkness of the void.

Chara: *Remember...you screw this up, and I'll make sure you regret it for eternity.

A bright light slowly fills your vision, the familiar sensation of the SAVE, along with an ache deep inside of you. You feel yourself losing consciousness, and then all is black once more.

 **Author's notes:** I'm horrible for starting and not finishing fanfiction, as a look at my profile will tell you...but this is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head since I finished Undertale. So I'm going to try again to make a multi-chapter fic, rather than the one-shot's I'm actually half-way decent at. Quarter-way? Eh, whatever.

It should be noted, too, that this will be the only chapter written in this style. I'll use a much more normal method for the meat of the story, and actually give Frisk a gender, the one I see them having in my headcanon. That's one of the things I love about Undertale...8-bit, yet the character is still what you make of them ^^ Anyway, until next time! Whenever that will be.


	2. Chapter 1: Saving Him

Chapter 1: Saving Him

The Absolute God of Hyperdeath...

How many times had she seen Asriel like this, now?

Too many times. Far too many. It hurt her every time, knowing that deep down inside there was a sweet young boy lost in a sea of bitterness and despair, a place that she had visited during some of her darker moments...only Asriel had been there for far, far longer, and had lost any hope of ever getting out. It was no wonder that the young monster had become twisted and lost, made worse by the fact that he had no soul of his own anymore. The first time she'd found the recordings in the true lab, it had broken her heart knowing what he had been, and what he had become. That was the point, she reckoned, that she had been filled with determination to save him.

Countless resets, and an encounter with Chara later...Frisk finally had a way to save him. So as the malevolent God that little Asriel had become stared down at her, her lips pressed together tightly as she waited for his attacks to start.

"You know, I don't care about this world anymore," he began, a contemptuous little curl of his lip marking the sneer.

It was a lie. She knew it was a lie the first time she'd heard it, and it became more obvious every time she faced him like this. Frisk watched as Asriel's hands ignited with power, forming the flames that were a hallmark of his family, of his parent. Sometimes he'd speak before he started attacking, other times he'd speak after starting the real fight. It probably became from being aware of the resets, of the power of SAVE, but how much he was actually aware of she didn't know...maybe he really did fully forget after each True Reset.

Bringing his hands together, arms outstretch and palms outward, Asriel began casting his fire magic rapidly, sending a torrent of fireballs towards Frisk. The heat was potent, enough that most humans would probably have succumbed just from that, truly a fearsome power on its own. Frisk's soul glowed brightly with her determination as she began to dodge, weaving through the patterns of flames, neatly dodging most of the incoming blaze. One fireball struck her shoulder, causing her shirt to ignite for a moment, but her soul shuddered against the damage and the flame was snuffed out before it could do real harm...it still hurt, though.

Closing her eyes, the young girl allowed her hope to flow through her, strengthening the defense of her soul, taking away some of the singe mark on her striped shirt. Opening her eyes once more, she smirked slightly at the boy, her determination radiating from her expression. Another wave of fireballs was the answer to her unspoken challenge, but this time she evaded them completely, even taking the time to pose dramatically at the end of her final dodge. Somehow, she felt a wave of robotic approval coming from somewhere.

Asriel snorted at Frisk's flashy dodge, shaking his head slightly,"After I defeat you and gain total control over the timeline," he began, raising his arms upwards, his hands starting to glow with power,"I just want to reset everything," he finished with a snarl, swiping his hands downward, a faint after trail from the bright glow streaking after them. Giant stars formed above him and almost immediately came crashing down, smashing into the ground and exploding in smaller starts, deadly magical shrapnel unleashed with the intent of ending the young human. An aura of colours filled the unnatural darkness that had filled the room, as it had so many times through so many timelines.

Frisk had heard all of his speeches before, seen all of his attacks...and while there was some variation based on where she moved and how quickly, the pattern was...predictable. Again, she dodged Asriel's assault, avoiding the large magical stars as they crashed and diving between the smaller stars, the light from her soul glowing brightly, beautifully...and most importantly, unscathed. She could see the God of Hyperdeath's eye give a slight tick as he failed, again and again to hit her, his hands swiping again and again as he brought more stars down around her. Instead of speaking immediately again as his attack failed, however, Asriel went straight for his next one.

It was another variation from her first battle against him, but it wasn't the first time she had seen it. His hands glowed, and powerful blasts of lightening arced outwards from them...as always, however, a slight glow on the floor behind her told Frisk where the lightening was going to hit, allowing her to move between the bolts. Sweat glistened upon her forehead as she again fortified her soul with hope, the exertion still extreme despite knowing what he was going to do beforehand. Back and forth the lightening struck in rapid succession, trying to hit her, followed swiftly by several much larger and deadlier bolts.

As the final bolt crashed down, the young girl failed to notice Asriel hurtling straight towards her, swords drawn. Instinct, honed over countless timelines, saved her from being bisected by his twin blades. She rolled swiftly to the left to avoid the first swiped, followed by rolling back to the right to avoid the next, and finally pushing herself backwards to avoid the final few slashes. The swords shattered into magical pellets and shotgunned at her from either side, attempting to catch her in a crossfire. Her leg was grazed slightly by one, her soul trembling from the hit, but the worst of the attack missed.

Asriel wasted no time in launching his next attack, another series of lightening strikes,"All your progress...everyone's memories," he said, increasing the size and force of the bolts as he spoke,"I'll bring them all back to zero!"

Dodging the last bolts were no more difficult than dodging them the first time, and again Frisk was able to avoid getting hit completely. Standing back up, she was just in time to see him swiping his hands downwards, summoning another barrage of stars. Looking up Frisk swallowed slightly...this was always a hard fight, even though she knew what Asriel was capable of. Even though she knew the best way to dodge the attacks, the speed at which he was able to cast them was still tiring to dodge, no matter how many battles they'd had against one another. As she began to dodge the next wave of attacks, the light of her soul glowed brighter with her determination...

* * *

..()..

The fight was nearing its conclusion.

Frisk had just called out to and saved Alphy's soul, restoring her memories...she could feel the glow of her friends warm feelings towards her. It always made her feel good, knowing that she had such wonderful people thinking so well of her. But beyond that...she could feel the resonance within her soul, the final pull towards the person she was determined to save. Sweat ran down her forehead in small rivulets, small singe and burn marks marring her clothes and a few errant strands of hair. Her soul, despite the few hits she had taken during the battle, still gleamed vibrantly against the void.

Looking towards the winged God of Hyperdeath hovering a distance from her, her lips curled into a gentle smile as she reached a hand towards him. Gently, Frisk spoke the name of the being she wanted to save the most...to save from a horrible, lingering fate,"Asriel..."

He looked taken aback, his white-on-black eyes widening in surprise, filling with wariness of her intentions. The confident, almost manic smile he had been wearing turned into tight line as he flinched backwards slightly,"Huh? What are you doing...!?"

Frisk's determination reacted with the surrounding magic of their battle, momentarily linking with his own. Her soul flared brilliantly, and a white light filled the void for the briefest of moments. Memories...memories of the first human, Chara, of the fun times that had been shared. The warmth of those memories...Frisk could feel Chara within her, almost see her silhouette at her side, weeping gently with regret...remembering what she had thrown away in her bid to get revenge on humanity. She felt as though those red eyes were turned towards her, filled with tears...and had the impression of one word being mouthed to her...

"Now."

She could feel Chara's soul emerge from her own and fragment. Time slowed down to a crawl, the moment of shared memories stretching on, and on, and on.

The void had turned white. Two other being stood with Frisk in that light...one was a young monster, the other a young human...Asriel, Chara. Slowly, Chara reached out and took Asriel's hand...he looked like he wanted to say something, but with a tearful smile Chara shook her head slightly, before taking Frisk's hand in her other hand. Gently, Chara brought Frisk's hand in contact with Asriel's, causing the boy monster to look over at her and tilt his head questioningly. She then rested both her hands on top of both their hands, giving them a squeeze, smiling happily at the two. Asriel looked confused, but still happy to see his long lost friend.

That happiness turned to shock as Chara began to fade away, leaving only a faint outline of her form, allowing them to see her soul breaking apart piece by piece. Frisk watches as those pieces swirled around, faster and faster, glowing brighter and brighter. Asriel looked horrified and uncomprehendingly at the event, not understanding what was about to happen. Finally, one piece separated itself from the swirl...the rest flew into the young monster's chest, causing him to flick his head upwards in a silent scream, white light pouring from his eyes. Frisk felt her hand being pinched tightly in his grip, causing her to wince. She didn't pull her hand away; however, she did squeeze back.

Finally, the glow in his eyes abated, and Asriel snapped his head down to stare directly into Frisk's squinted eyes. His expression was one of shock, a mixture of awe and sadness,"You...put yourself through all this...for me?" he asked, his soft voice incredulous,"Why? After everything I've done...why?"

Frisk smiled, bringing her free hand up and resting it on top of where his hand was holding her other one,"Because you needed to be saved the most..."

He was about to say something else, but then there was a brilliant flash of blinding light, and suddenly Frisk was back in the void. Asriel was staring down at her, feelings crossing his expression too swiftly for her to catch...especially since everything had started to look fuzzy, and was getting darker. She felt herself falling to the ground, but just before she hit Frisk felt herself being caught by two furry arms.

The last thing she felt as consciousness left her was a few drops of moisture hitting her face from above.

* * *

..()..

They were walking along a grassy field, hand in hand.

Chara looked over at Frisk and smiled,"Thank you. He's finally free...mom and dad will have their son back."

Frisk frowned slightly,"How did he know that I'd been doing this over and over again trying to free him?"

Chara shrugged lightly,"Probably from what was left of my memories in my soul. I didn't know that was going to happen, either...but I'm happy. And maybe...maybe he'll be able to forgive me, some day..."

Frisk stopped, forcing Chara to turn and face her. Looking down at the grassy ground beneath them, she frowned slightly,"What happens now?" she asked, looking up at the 'first human'.

"Who knows? The future can finally happen, now! Everyone can leave the underground and be happy!" Chara exclaimed with a giggle, breaking free from Frisk's grasp and spinning away slightly, stopping at a patch of familiar golden flowers to pick one. Bringing the blossom to her nose, she gave it a smell and smiled happily,"It's finally over..." she sighed, looking over at Frisk,"In a way I'm glad it took you this long...it gave me time to break free of the darkness I had within me...and let me be happy again."

"Chara..." Frisk said, still serious,"I meant what happens with you?"

"Oh..." she stopped smiling, looking off into the distance,"Well...a fragment of a soul can't survive long on its own...right now, what's giving me these last few moments with you and this wonderful dream is my determination," she said, clutching the flower to her chest,"I don't have much longer."

Frisk looked sad, starting to step towards the other human and say something else. Chara held up her hand...Frisk stopped.

"Don't...and don't even think about trying to save me, too," she said, her red eyes both sad and serious as she locked eyes with Frisk,"He was the one who deserved to be saved...there's no way to save us both...and besides, you can't use your power that many more times, even if there was...remember? You need to save it for something important...an emergency. Using it to find a way to save me, too, would probably just kill you."

Frisk noticed that Chara's legs were starting to fade out of existence...the fade slowly travelling upwards as the red-eyed girl stared into the distance.

"Besides...I deserve this. I'm the one who started this mess...it's only right that I stop existing," she said, faded to just below her chest as she turned and smiled sadly at the other girl,"Just promise me you'll take care of him...he's a crybaby, and gentle and..."

She didn't get the chance to finish.

Slowly, Frisk walked over to where the flower hand fallen onto the ground, picking it up and looking up at the sunny blue sky. Taking a deep breath, she replied,"I promise."

 **Author's notes:** Yay, another chapter done ^^ I was going to do out the whole fight sequence, initially, but looking at it I felt that it would be a whole lot of repetition for little gain. So, I fast forwarded it a bit. Hope this chapter has met with expectations...this story is going to have fluff moments, but dark moments as well. And even though I have the pairing up, the Frisk/Asriel pairing isn't going to happen right away. And yes, my head-canon for Frisk is that Frisk is female ^^ I just think it works so much better with Undertale...not really sure why, I just do.

Anyway, thanks for reading this! Any and all interest is muchly appreciated! Also, don't expect regular updates. I'll update as I can, but depending on how things go IRL I may not get to write as often as I'd like. Also, what will compound things is that I intend for the next chapters to be longer.


	3. Chapter 2: Awakening

Chapter 2: Awakening

When Frisk awoke, she had the impression that her head was lying on a pair of large, furry knees. She could feel a large, soft hand stroking her hair and a cool, wet cloth resting on her forehead. Opening her eyes, everything seemed black at first and she worried that the fight had made her blind this time around. It had happened on occasion, although the few weeks she tolerated those timelines afterwards were never unpleasant, as Toriel took over her care without hesitation. This time, however, it was not the case and her eyesight returned swiftly. The big white blob over her slowly resolved into the fore-mentioned boss monster, her eyes closed and a worried frown upon her brow.

"Mom?" she said, barely able to croak out the word.

Toriel's eyes snapped open, dark brown orbs first startled, then filled with happiness and warmth. Small tears form in the corners of her eyes as she smiles brightly,"Oh my child, my child...you are finally awake!" she said, her voice cracking slightly with emotion,"I was...we were all so worried you would not wake up!"

Frisk reached up and slowly pulled the cloth off her forehead, her body feeling heavy...as if she were completely immersed in honey, her motions slow and fatigued,"How long?" she asked, her voice gaining a bit more clarity and strength.

"That is not important," Toriel began, before catching the look in her adopt child's eyes. Her smile subdues slightly, but is no less warm,"Two weeks, my darling Frisk...you have been asleep for two weeks."

Two weeks...that was different, a total first. Normally, the longest she would be out after the fight was a few hours, and then that was only during earlier resets before she had grown totally accustomed to what she was facing. Frisk began to sit up, but Toriel gently pushed her back down, and the young human felt she didn't have the strength to resist. Looking around, she finally took note of her surroundings...she and Toriel were in the True Lab, a private room had been setup with all kinds of monitoring equipment, and it was then that she noticed that equipment was connected to her.

"Everyone has been taking turns watching over you, hoping you would awaken...I am pleased that I was here to see it," Toriel murmured, her hand once again stroking through the child's hair. She so desired to scoop her child up into a hug, but was worried about how weak they seemed...it was too soon, that could wait for later.

"Everyone?"

"Yes, my child...Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton...Asgore...and," she paused for a moment, a sudden lump forming in the she-monster's throat,"...and Asriel. My child...how did you bring Asriel back to us? He...died...so very long ago."

"How much do you remember about that day, mother?"

Toriel frowned slightly,"I remember rushing to the castle, arriving just in time to stop Asgore from fighting you...I remember all the friends you have made showing up as well...so many monsters...but after that, it is...a jumble," she says, her hand pausing for a moment, before resuming carressing her beloved child's hair,"I remember protecting you from...something...with all my might. And the others helped as well...but then we all woke up in the throne room."

So Asriel's time as Flowey was unknown to the rest...so too was what he tried to do. Smiling slightly, Frisk decided that some things where better off forgotten, and reached up to lightly grasp her mother's hand, bringing it down so she could cuddle against its warmth slightly,"There was a battle...someone else helped me save him," she said, closing her eyes again and nuzzling slightly against the hand she cuddled,"Chara helped me save him, mother, helped me save him from the pain and loneliness that he had been suffering for a very long time."

Toriel's eyes widened,"Chara?"

Frisk nodded slightly,"Chara's soul must have been particularly powerful...it persisted, and she slept. The battle woke her up...and she helped," she said, intentionally leaving out just how many times that battle had been fought, leaving out just what kind of darkness Chara had freed herself from over a long, long time to make this possible,"I couldn't have done it without her."

Toriel's eyes watered slightly again at the thought of her other long-lost child, the first human, before sniffing slightly and frowning,"You and Asriel both mention this battle...what was it you were fighting, my child? A monster of some sort?"

Frisk's smile faded,"A monster...but he wasn't always so," she began, sticking as close to the truth is possible...she had learned that the best lies had grains of truth sprinkled judiciously throughout them,"It's all a blur...I barely remember that much," she added, falling silent for a few moments before finally asking,"What happened after everyone woke up?"

Toriel nodded slightly, satisfied with the answer, and proud that her child would know such a detail of her foe...it meant she had at least tried to talk with the monster she had fought,"At first there was confusion, as the last thing we had known for certain was that we had been standing at the barrier. We all turned and began to run for it, but stopped when we saw...well...we saw someone whom we had been certain we would never see again carrying you on his back into the throne room...

* * *

...(Flashback)...

 _"Mother! Father! Please help her! She won't wake up!" shouted Asriel as slowly made his way through the rear throne room door. It was obvious he had been crying, the fur beneath his eyes matted._

 _Toriel and Asgore wasted no time heeding their son's call, momentarily forgetting their shock at seeing him alive again and rushing forward to take Frisk from him. The others were swift to follow, although they resisted the urge to crowd too close...only Alphys moved in as close as the King and Queen had, motioning for them to put Frisk down on the ground. They laid her down among the golden flowers that grew plentifully there, and Alphys began to work._

 _Toriel was panicking, ready to burst into tears as she frantically prepared her healing magic, but Asgore stopped her and gently shook his head, pulling her back softly and semi-embracing her. Asriel hadn't moved from where his parents had taken Frisk from him, wringing his hands together and watching worriedly. Toriel bit her lip nervously as Alphys worked, wrapping her arms together against her midsection, slowly alternating her balance from one foot to the other as she watched until Asgore pulled her into a half-hug, holding her against his side as he looked on resignedly._

 _"Stay back and let Alphys work, Toriel," he said, his deep voice sad and gentle. Toriel looked up at him, but didn't object to the comfort he offered, instead turning back to and keeping her attention focused on her adoptive child._

 _It took less than two minutes for the doctor to finish examining Frisk, but it seemed like an eternity. Turning back to the King and Queen, she stood and smiled hastily,"She's alive, but she's in a coma. We need to get her back to the lab so I can get a better look at her," she said, not really noticing how confident she sounded when so focused._

 _The two skeleton brothers lept into action, moving forward and each taking an end of the young human. Papyrus was uncustomarily serious as he helped lift his friend, looking across at his brother and nodding slightly. Sans nodded back, and together in perfect sync they began heading for the main throne room exit...ordinarily, Sans would have just used one of his 'shortcuts' to get around, but because they didn't know what was keeping Frisk under, he didn't want to risk it._

 _Undyne snapped into action, bellowing orders at the gathered royal guards to clear a path through the throngs of Monsters that had been gathering, sensing something important had happened at the castle. She cut an intimidating, powerful figure as she brought her authority to bear, striding ahead of the two brothers while Alphys brought up the rear, already calling ahead on her cell phone to get some monsters in to prepare the lab for their arrival._

 _Asgore and Toriel watched the procession go...Toriel holding herself back from following, only the knowledge she would just get in the way restraining her. Resignation in the King's eyes had changed to hope upon hearing that Frisk was still alive, although his stance belied his worry. It could be forgiven then, with them so lost in their own thoughts, that they both jumped slightly when the felt someone tugging at their cape and robes, respectively._

 _Looking back, they saw their long-lost son standing behind them, looking down tearfully at the ground, his ears drooping slightly,"I tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't...she wouldn't open her eyes."_

 _Sucking in a breath, Toriel broke free of Asgore's half-hug as she turned and knelt swiftly down, pulling Asriel into a tight embrace. Her shoulders began to shake at the overwhelming emotions coursed through her. Asgore knelt down beside them and took them both into his embrace, openly weeping as well._

 _They stayed like that for a long time._

* * *

...(End Flashback)...

"After we were certain we would not be in Alphys's way, we ventured to the laboratory together. When we arrived, we were greeted by Alphys...she brought us inside to see you, my child. On our way to see you, she explained that you were not responding to any sort of external stimulation, and although her equipment and examinations of your soul showed nothing unusual, you just would not wake up. Oh, Frisk, everyone will be so overjoyed that you have awoken," the motherly monster said, her warm smile positively radiating joy,"I cannot wait to tell them!"

The human giggled slightly at her adoptive mother's enthusiasm, before coughing slightly and realizing that her mouth was quite dry. Toriel made the same realization at the same time and gently lifted Frisk up so she get to her feet, moving slowly so as not to shake her daughter too much. Once she was standing, she gently laid the young human back down, ensuring her head was resting comfortably on the pillow and pulling the blanket up around her.

"I will go get you a drink, my child. Rest and regain your strength."

With a final, tender smile back at Frisk, Toriel opened the door. The light in the hallway outside was harsh and bright compared to the darkness of the room, and it momentarily blinded Frisk, but the door was shut swiftly after the boss monster stepped out, letting comforting darkness fill the room. She stared up at the sealing, still feeling physically drained, yet her mind was wide awake so there was no danger of falling back to sleep just yet. She just lay there, in the dark and quiet, listening to the various monitoring machines make small beeps and hums around her...her relief palpable that everything had turned out as planned, finally.

There was a slight shuffling sound and a light cough from the direction of the door...which hadn't opened, unless she had actually fallen back to sleep and hadn't noticed. Looking in that direction again, she could see a vague, shadowy...familiar outline. A small smile formed on her face and she said, her voice still somewhat croaking from her dryness,"You're not going to be able to jump scare me, Sans..."

A small chuckle escaped the shadow, and as it stepped closer Frisk could see that it was indeed Sans. His perpetual smile was in full swing, hands in his pockets as closed the distance between them and sat at the foot of the medical med, bouncing a few times on the mattress for good measure,"Hey kid. How're you feeling?"

"Thirsty."

Sans cocked his head to the side and closed his left eye,"Quick, but you know that's not what I'm talking about."

Frisk frowned slightly and sighed,"How much do you know? How much do you remember?"

"I know you've reset the timeline more than once, but to be honest I don't remember things like...memories. Impressions, deja-vu..." his eye began to glow blue in the dark,"enough that I'll know if you lie. Time isn't something you should mess with, kid. Too much shifting around has...consequences."

"Sans..." she began, before sighing again and closing her eyes,"Let's just say that I'm worn thin...and I won't be resetting the timeline anymore unless something really bad happens."

His eye stopped glowing, his left eye opening again,"Good. I heard the truth in that. We'll talk more, later, when you're feeling up to it," he said, getting to his feet again.

"What? No puns?" she asked, a slight hint of teasing in her voice.

The skeleton chuckled slightly,"Nah, I can tell you're bone tired, so I won't try to tickle your ribs."

Frisk giggled slightly, watching as Sans seemed to fade back into the shadows just as the door opened again and the hallway light blinded her. When her vision cleared, Toriel was approaching the bed with a glass of water in her large, furry hands. There was no sign of Sans. The young human was determined that, some day, she would get the skeleton to teach her about his 'shortcuts'.

...()...

True to her word, Toriel had told all of Frisk's friends that she was awake again. Although the mother monster sternly forbade anyone, except for Alphys, from visiting right away to let her adoptive child regain more strength, it was only another day before Alphys cleared Frisk to go home. As they left the lab, she could see long columns of moving crates heading towards New Home, monsters moving their possessions to the capital. There was a feeling of hope that was palpable, and happiness. Children and adults alike were laughing, singing, playing games...the slow pace of the move towards the capital had no effect on morale. Upon spotting Toriel and Frisk, the pair were inundated with grateful, happy, smiling faces (or excited happy movements from those that had no faces) and well wishes.

More than once the monster Queen had to give stern looks when the throng became too closed in for them to move forward.

"I thought we were heading home, mother?" asked Frisk as another group of well-wishers waved and grinned in her direction. She smiled and waved back, before giving Toriel's large hand a squeeze.

"We are, my child. For the last two weeks, everyone has been preparing to leave the Underground now that the barrier is gone...I felt it would be wise to move back to New Home for the time being. All my things are there, although I have only unpacked a few pieces of clothing for myself...the rest shall remain packed for our eventual return to the surface."

"I would have thought everyone would be out there by now..." murmured the child quietly, although not quietly enough for Toriel to miss it.

Stopping for a moment, the motherly monster turned around and gently reached out to rub her adoptive child's head softly,"Many wanted to, but Asgore persuaded them to wait until you woke up. He never lost hope that you would. It was a wise decision...it has given everyone time to prepare for the journey."

Frisk leaned up slightly into the hand, enjoying the feel of it, eyes staring up at the smiling face of her mother,"I'm happy he was thoughtful, but everyone has been waiting for this for so long..."

Toriel giggled gently, before taking Frisk's hand again and moving forward once again,"After so long underground, an extra week or two wasn't going to upset anyone."

The rest of the journey was a comfortable silence between the two, only occasionally interrupted by the adoring masses. It wasn't long until they reached the head of the convoy, stopped outside the main entrance of the castle. Two royal guards stood watch, and at first the young human couldn't make out who they were. But as they got closer, and she saw the pair of tails wagging, she grinned slightly and let go of her mother's hand, heading straight towards the pair.

Greater Dog and Lesser Dog immediately bounded forward, although they were very careful once they got close to Frisk and began licking her face in sequence as she hugged their necks and ruffled their fur. Both dogs were in heaven, although Lesser Dog managed to control itself enough not to cause another neck-stretch incident. It wasn't until they felt someone tapping their shoulders from behind that they stopped, turning to look to see who was disturbing their petting time.

They weren't long, after giving Frisk a final lick to the cheeks each, getting back into position when they saw it was Undyne herself. The fish monster watched them get back to their posts with a glare, before turning and bowing slightly to Toriel,"Your Majesty...welcome home."

Toriel nodded regally, although she wore a friendly smile,"Thank you Undyne...although hopefully it won't be home much longer."

Undyne smirked at that, before turning her attention to the little human in front of her. With a wide grin, she swept Frisk up into a powerful hug, before putting her in a headlock and giving the human a noogie,"Hey punk! Glad to see you made it back!" she jeered, snickering slightly as Frisk wormed her way out of the headlock and grinned up at her friend. Toriel, for her part, had started to frown slightly at the rough treatment of her daughter, but resumed smiling when it was apparent no harm was done, and it seemed to be a 'thing' between the two.

"Hey Undyne! Everyone been behaving themselves?"

Undyne laughed, looking out over the head of the convoy of monsters,"For the most part. There's been a few little scuffles, but they've been more on the playful side. Between everyone getting ready to go, Mettaton and Shyren doing performances, and the occasional glare from me, everything has been running smoothly."

"Are Shyren and Mettaton performing together?"

The fish monster shook her head,"No. They have a friendly rivalry going to see who can get the most people at their performances...everyone goes to both, anyway, so neither of them have won," she then grinned widely,"I tried to get Mettaton to let me help him," she began, before starting to laugh,"But he said my help tended to be a little too 'explode-y' for him. I can see that."

Remembering the cooking lessons, Firsk couldn't help but giggle in agreement. Undyne stopped laughing, a surprisingly warm smile on her face as she reached down and ruffled the human's hair,"You did good, punk. Asgore is fine, you're fine...and we're getting out of here, finally," she said, before winking and grinning,"I'm glad I didn't manage to stick you with my spear before!"

The sound of a throat clearing caused both to look over at Toriel, whom they'd forgotten was there. The Queen was looking at the fish monster with a raised eyebrow, her expresssion just hovering above a glare,"What was that? 'Stick you with my spear'?"

Undyne began to sweat as she smiled nervously,"A-anyway, that's all in the past, and oh lookee here I have to go patrol somewhere else goodbye Frisk!" she rushed out, stammering nervously and backing away. Giving Frisk a final wave, the captain of the royal guard beat a hasty retreat, fearing that if she stayed much longer she'd be on the recieving end of Toriel's fire magic.

Frisk watched her go, raising an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic retreat her friend had made, looking up questioningly at her mother. Noticing the look, Toriel smiled sweetly down at her and took her hand once more. The pair moved past the dogs, whose tails were still wagging, deeper into the castle.

"I saw some of what you went through, my child, thanks to Dr. Alphy's cameras. I had a very long chat with Undyne afterwards, although she failed to mention trying to impale you with her spear," she said, her expression darkening slightly even as the smile remained,"Perhaps I should talk with her again about the importance of telling the whole truth."

"Please don't, mother...she didn't hurt me, and she was only trying to do her job."

Toriel sighed, giving Frisk's hand a squeeze,"Very well, my child, I will not bother her about it."

The castle was bustling with monsters and noise as modifications were made so that when the exodus began, they would be able to accomodate more people more quickly. Walls were being removed, the pictures and furniture were already packed away...even the wood floors had been torn up and the starway enlarged. It wasn't the comfortable, almost quaint looking living space that had been there before. In a way, Frisk was sad to see it go...but at the same time, she'd always felt it seemed so...lonely. Monsters working on the project only spared the briefest moments to wave at the Queen and her daughter as they strode by, too busy making the final preparations to do more.

"If you didn't know when I was going to wake up, mother, how did you know you'd have time to do this?"

"Asgore and I talked about it after he had made the proclaimation, and we decided to start making these preparations as a way of showing that things were moving forward, and that we were actually leaving the Underground. It is just a coicidence that the work is nearly done and you woke up, my child...a happy one, but a coincidence all the same."

They passed through the hall of judgement in silence, the place still largely intact because it was already a large space. Frisk remembered the many times she had been through here and judged for her sins...sometimes she had none, other times...other times she had felt them crawling on her back. She remembered fighting Sans, being killed by Sans, killing Sans...the pain from fighting her friend a deep scar within her. Scars from fighting all her friends. She contemplated everything she had done, everything she had been through to arrive at this point...and she wondered if it had all been worth it, in the end.

"FRISK!" came the happy shout, followed by a body tackle and hug that tore her hand from her mother's and made her butt hit the floor.

Why was the floor so soft? She blinked, noticing that they had arrived in the throne room while she'd been lost in thought, pondering her actions. Looking down, she saw the white furred top of a little head and long, floppy ears nuzzling its muzzle into her chest happily. It didn't take more than half a moment to realize who this young monster was, especially considering he was wearing a bright green and yellow striped shirt. Looking up, she saw both Asgore and Toriel standing above them, not -quite- together, but not far apart and both smiling warmly down at the two. Looking back down at Asriel Dreemurr, she decided that yes, it had all bee worth it.

Reaching up with her arms, she gave the boy monster a tight hug, and whispered,"Hello Asriel, I'm happy to see you."

 **Author's notes:** Ok, here's the next chapter ^^ Other characters will be making their appearances soon, of course, but to go through every one with more than a casual mentioning would have been a far longer chapter and felt a little more forced. Personally, I thought I was going to get more typed out, but this seemed like a great spot to end it. Do let me know what you think ^^ Also, as a note, things are going to be dark next chapter...it's one of the things I had planned out from the very start.


	4. Chapter 3: Into the Fire

Chapter 3: Into the fire.

 **Update:** Reading through this, I noticed a few mistakes that I made while I was writing fatigued. This update, done on _5/8/2016_ , is to fix them.

How had everything gone so wrong?

It was a question Frisk asked herself as she ran up one of the few flame-free paths in the forest. Overhead, she could hear the roar of two fighter jets as the circled, looking for prey. The heat and smoke from the massive blaze stymied them, however, and they broke away again. They'd been buzzing the forest around Mt. Ebott ever since the mess had started...ever since the military had moved in and started attacking the monsters.

Things had been going well, they'd exited the Underworld and had begun clearing out a section of forest to start a new settlement...named Newer Home, much to everyone's amusement. Now, that name was one that would forever be tainted with sadness and despair. While no-one had actually been killed in the town itself thanks to a welcome twist of fate, Frisk had heard gunfire in the distance, had heard the shouts and screams...she had even witnessed a Knight Knight put himself between oncoming soldiers and a family of Froggits trying to escape. The soldiers had raised their weapons to shoot, but seemed to hesitate when all the large monster did was keep his arms raised, body blocking their line of sight to the other fleeing monsters.

Then one of them answered a call over their radio, there was a brief conversation, and then finally the soldiers opened fire on the brave monster. After the dust had settled, they went a different path from the way the Froggits had taken, as if conveniently forgetting that they had been chasing other monsters. It had given Frisk momentary hope that there were goo people among the soldiers, and maybe they could still salvage this...but that hope was short lived. The soldiers would follow orders...these were, after all monsters. Not humans. Not people, in the eyes of their superiors.

Coughing heavily from the smoke, Frisk flung herself into some nearby underbrush just off the path, staying hidden while she caught her breath and thought back to a mere few days prior when everything had seemed like it was going to be fine...

* * *

...(Past)...

Asriel hugged Frisk for a solid minute before releasing her in a sudden panic, his cheeks slightly rosy as he backpedaled slightly,"I'm sorry! Are you ok? I was just so happy to see you I forgot that you just got out of the lab..."

The human giggled slightly and got to her feet, dusting off her bottom before reaching down to help the monster boy up,"I'm not hurt or anything, Asriel...I was just asleep for awhile."

The young prince gave a short sigh of relief, accepting the hand and allowing himself to be helped up,"Oh, good. I- er, all of us were worried when you wouldn't wake up, but Dr. Alphys said it would only be a matter of time," he said, looking slightly bashful, his cheeks slightly red beneath his fur, chin tucked against his chest and hands clasped in front of his belly. He perked up slightly for a moment, his ears moving slightly,"Oh yeah! And Papyrus said he'd be making us all spaghetti tonight for supper in celebration of you waking up!"

That was a slight disappointment as Frisk had been looking forward to Toriel's Cinnamon-Butterscotch pie, and considering how bad Papyrus's spaghetti supposedly was...she mentally shook herself. Papyrus was one of the first friends she had made, and so she would eat the spaghetti and try to enjoy it. Some of her disappointment must have shown on her face, however, as Asriel gave her a shy, questioning look. Frisk smiled widely,"I look forward to it!"

It was at this moment that Asgore stepped forward, suddenly reminding the two children that he and Toriel were present. With a look of absolute seriousness, he knelt down on one knee so that he was eye-level with the human. The look in the King's eyes made Frisk nervous...she hadn't seen him quite this serious, even when he had been trying to kill her for her soul. He looked regal in his armor and crown, yet somehow still gave the impression of being down-to-earth rather than aloof like she had read some royalty acted.

"Human...Frisk..." he began, slowly, as if measuring each word,"You have done my people a great service...because of you, we are all free...and I have come to realize how foolish it would be to wage another war against the humans on the surface. What I had declared, I had declared first out of anger, then out of what I felt was necessity...to keep everyone's hope alive during our long imprisonment. I regret what I did, and while I still think it was necessary," he paused, looking up over his should momentarily at Toriel, who frowned slightly and looked away. Asgore's shoulders seemed to slump a bit, as he turned his attention back to Frisk,"I know now it was wrong. If I'd managed to kill you and take your soul...my people would have been fighting another war right now. Because of you, we will now be at peace."

Frisk began to speak, but the King shook his head slightly, silently asking her to let him finish. The human closed her mouth, and waited.

"I was going to ask you to be our ambassador to the humans...but something else happened, something unexpected," his voice began to shake slightly, but his mouth curved into a smile as tears of happiness began to roll down his cheeks and leave dark, wet streaks in his fur,"You gave us back our son. You gave back the one thing I, and my w...Toriel never thought we'd see again," the king bowed his head,"When I think of what I almost did, what I would have done if Toriel hadn't arrived when she had...I feel so ashamed of myself...I...I..." he stammered, his voice beginning to crack up.

The human stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Asgore's neck, pulling the big monster into a comforting hug as best she could,"I understand...you were only doing what you had to do. As far as you knew, there was no other way to break the barrier...your duty is to your people first, your Majesty...seven human souls for the freedom they needed. I think those humans understood why. I think they helped make this possible."

Asgore was surprised by the hug, his eyes widening slightly. Slowly, gently...the King returned the hug, one large hand covering Frisk's back. Toriel watched and listened, feeling her heart pang slightly at the obvious pain he was in...but still not quite ready to forgive, especially since she had warned him and pleaded with him not to carry out his decision. But, as she felt her son wrap his arms around her legs through her robe, she thought that maybe...just maybe...she would give Asgore the opportunity to win her back.

As if by mutual agreement, the human and the monster King released their embrace, Asgore's tear stained face growing serious again. Clearing his throat, he picked up where he left off,"I have decided not to make you our ambassador after all. That position is too low for someone who sacrificed for us all, fought for us all...cared for us all...and did the impossible and brought our prince back. Frisk...I want to make you an official member of our family. I want to make you Princess of our people. Toriel tells me you already call her mother...you would be one of us, in all but blood."

To say Frisk was shocked was an understatement...she was positively floored. Her legs suddenly felt like rubber, and with a slight wobble she fell to the ground in a sitting position. Toriel, making a sound of worry (as well as casting an extremely surprised, and pleased, look at Asgore) darted forward and began to fuss over her daughter. Frisk came back to herself and reassured the fussing monster with a somewhat shell-shocked smile, before turning her attention back to Asgore,"There...there...what? I mean...I'm honored, but...a Princess...me?" she asked the King.

"Yes. On top of what you have done, you've shown ability and wisdom beyond your tender years...I think with a proper education," he said, nodding towards Toriel,"you would be a boon to us as a whole. And you would show our people that not all humans are to be feared, those that have not encountered you personally, anyway...anyone who has already knows this."

She looked over at Asriel, and the young monster smiled encouragingly at her with hope in his eyes.

She looked up at Toriel, who said while smiling warmly,"It is up to you, my child...you will still be my child either way you choose,"

She looked down at the ground for the moment and...felt an ache in her chest as the power of save activated. This caused her to worry a bit, both due to the pain and the fact it had happened at this precise moment. However, the ache was dull and it faded almost instantly, and she decided that there wasn't too much to worry about.

With a look of determination in her eyes, Frisk looked back at Asgore and smiled happily,"I accept...Father."

The human found herself pulled into a warm group hug by her new family, their fur making it somewhat uncomfortably hot...and yet...not unpleasant, either. Frisk Dreemurr, she decided, had a nice ring to it...

* * *

...(Present)...

Being low to the ground and stationary let the young girl catch her breath. Her eyes burned, and in a vain effort to keep some of the smoke out she pulled her shirt up over her nose...it didn't work, the smoke had saturated it too much and it almost made her cough again. Pulling it back down, she stood and peered around to see if there were any monsters straggling behind. The smoke and flames made it hard, but she was relieved she didn't see any. Sans had been quick to get back and warn everyone, and Asgore had obviously been quick to get the evacuation going. There had only been those unfortunate few she had seen being dusted by the oncoming soldiers, although as with the Knight Knight it seemed as if some had deliberately stayed back to buy time...to make sure smaller, weaker monsters could get back up the mountain in time.

Nodding once to herself, Frisk turned and ran back up the path, keeping her eyes and ears open for trouble. The fire around her crackled and blazed and smoked...but didn't seem to be doing much beyond that. She had a feeling her mother and father were behind this, seeing as they had powerful fire magic at their disposal. They were no doubt controlling the massive blaze in an effort to hide everyone that was fleeing.

Rounding a bend in the path, she could see a white figure, dressed in purple with their arms raised in the air. Smiling with relief, Frisk knew it had to be her mother. Gritting her teeth, her lungs burning from exerting herself in the smokey environment, she increased her pace in an effort to reach her mother more swiftly so that they could get back to the underground together. She was determined that this was only going to be a setback...the humans were frightened of a massive horde of beings they'd never seen before leaving the mountain, and may have thought their leaders had probably thought it was some kind of invasion. No, they would get this sorted out, there would be apologies made, and everything would be better.

In her rush, she could be forgiven for not seeing the small section of soldiers stepping out of the thick bushes on the path behind her.

* * *

...(Past)...

There had been a party that night, in what was left of the castle, with all of her closest friends. Papyrus, Sans, Mettaton, Undyne, Alphys, and of course her newly adopted family...they were all there to celebrate her adoption into the royal family and becoming a princess. They'd gotten a bit of food together, and Toriel had found a place to bake a cinnamon-butterscotch pie, and some drink...the adults had a bottle of wine to share, while her and Asriel had enjoyed some soda pop provided by Alphys. Mettaton and Shyren had been asked to come up with a celebratory song to mark the occasion, and had been torn between a performance for the monsters waiting to leave and attending the party.

The two entertainers decided, to make sure there was equal credit between them, that Shyren would write the song and Mettaton would perform it. The song was beautiful, filled with the hope that Frisk had given to all the monsters, and while it wasn't something Mettaton would normally have performed the robot succeeded without a hitch. It was definitely slower-paced than his normal routine, and required less dramatic movement...but he performed it with no less soul than he would have a song of his own making. He'd graciously accepted the applause, and the hug Frisk had given him.

Papyrus had been disappointed that he hadn't been allowed to cook anything for the party, but he'd enjoyed giving his friend the opportunity to talk to him, and Frisk had pulled out an old word-search book that she'd found in Asriel's room for them to do. They'd spent about a half hour doing puzzles together before Undyne and Alphys had come and dragged her away, Papyrus vowing to Frisk that he would finish her part of the puzzles, too.

Despite pulling her away, Alphys and Undyne had only wanted to thank Frisk again for everything that she'd done, and for helping them get together. The last part was done with a blush from both monsters, but Frisk had just giggled and said that they deserved it. The three had hugged, Undyne briefly put her in a headlock...only to smile sheepishly and let go when she noticed Alphys glaring at her. Frisk had wandered over to a small table where the drinks were and helped herself to some pop when Sans walked up next to her, a glass a quarter of the way filled with wine.

"So kid, this is it, huh. Day after tomorrow, we head outside to the surface and start a new life," he said, his tone unusually mellow.

"Yep! I can't wait to show you around! I think me and you should head down to my old village...gather a bit of news. I've been down here awhile, so it would be good to know what's going on."

"You just want me to come along because I can get us back with a shortcut."

Turning to him, Frisk raised an eyebrow,"Not everyone is as lazy as you, Sans."

The skeleton chuckled slightly, taking a sip of his wine,"True enough. I guess some might say that I'm raw bony lazy."

Giving Sans a flat look, the human looked towards the front door just in time to see Asriel stepping out. Turning back to the skeleton, she smiled slightly and put her hand on his arm,"I want you to come with me because you're my friend, and you've been watching out for me from the start of all this. If it hadn't been for your help and advice, things would have been alot harder for me."

Sans reached up and lightly scratched his cheek, looking a bit embarrassed,"I didn't do much, kid...you did all the heavy lifting. I just...made sure you stayed on track."

Frisk nodded slightly, pulling her hand back,"Now if you'll excuse me, there's someone I have to go see," she said, giving the skeleton a little wave and heading for the door. Stepping outside, she looked around and spotted Asriel just a little ways down the road, looking out over New Home. He was sitting on the edge of the road, and as she approached she noticed his expression was...thoughtful. With a light cough to announce her presence, she flopped down next to the boy monster and joined him in his vigil, taking a moment to appreciate the view herself.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, after a few minutes, turning her head so she could see his face.

"Howdy," he greeted her, his voice loud against the relative silence despite its gentleness,"Good. I just...have a hard time believing the nightmare is finally over."

Shifting a bit closer, Frisk put a comforting arm around Asriel's shoulders, causing him to lean into her,"How much do you remember?"

He was silent for a few moments, as if gathering his thoughts. She didn't rush him; the human knew it was difficult for him. His words, when they came, were low...as if he were afraid that he would be overheard,"I remember being Flowey...I remember doing awful things...but when you and I fought, everything is a jumble. I can't remember it all," he paused, before sighing and resting his head on her shoulder,"All I remember for sure is I feel like I owe you...a lot. Like you went through a lot just for me...does that make sense?" he asked.

Frisk nodded slightly,"But I don't want you to feel like you owe me, Asriel...you went through a lot yourself. You deserved to be free from that terrible fate."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes more, when they were suddenly interrupted by a click and a flash behind them. Leaping apart and getting to their feet, both turned bright pink when they saw Toriel standing behind them with a camera and smiling widely. Frisk noticed in passing it was an older camera, one that still used film.

"Oooh, you two looked so cute sitting together like that. I am pleased I was able to take a picture!" she said, her voice slightly sing-song.

"Mooooom!" both children exclaimed with embarrassment, before giving each other a slightly betrayed look and causing Toriel to giggle again.

"Come now, my children...your friends await you back inside. I believe Papyrus has created a party game with the help of Dr. Alphys...something to do with coloured tiles and some form of...spinner?"

* * *

...(Present)...

Toriel was sweating slightly with effort, being somewhat out of practice using such a large amount of magic and control to keep the massive blaze hiding everyone in check. Or rather, her segment of it...Asgore was on the other side of the mountain, doing the same thing. Small black scorch marks marred her white fur in various spots around her face, and there were a few burn marks on her robes...while she could control the flames, the fire was so intense that she couldn't really keep the embers from approaching her. It was nothing a little sewing and healing magic couldn't handle, but it was a slight nuisance that occasionally ate at her attention.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frisk running up the path, her hands raising up to wave as she moved.

'Good,' she thought,'That must mean there are no others on this path...I will be able to close the gaps in the flames soon.'

Her eyes widened, however, when she noticed the other forms stepping out onto the path. They were taller than Frisk, but still smaller than her...dressed in green, carrying weapons. It was obvious that they were having a hard time seeing because of the smoke, but one of them must have caught sight of her daughter running by them.

Everything happened in slow motion...Toriel could feel each individual beat of her heart as the human soldier, spooked by Frisk's movement and unable to make out what it was, raised his weapon and opened fire. The pop of the assault rifle was barely audible over the roar of the flames, but thanks to her large ears she heard it distinctly. She saw the spray of blood as the bullets exited through Frisk's front, watched as the child crumpled to the ground. She could hear her own blood rushing in her ears as she screamed in anger and despair.

The soldiers looked around themselves in shock as the towering inferno they'd been surrounded by was snuffed out as if it were nothing more than a small candle, the heat disappearing as fast as the flames.

The smoke, however, lingered, as well as the scent of burnt wood and forest plants. Turning back to the child, one soldier reached for his radio to call for help, but stopped and snapped his weapon up when they saw Toriel bearing down on them. Before they could react, the weeping monster was kneeling over the child, pressing her large furred hands against the wound in an attempt to staunch the blood flow.

Toriel was frantic, blood was soaking Frisk's shirt and the ground of the path, the fur of her hands rapidly becoming stained as well. Her sobs were palpable as her hands began to glow a soft white, forming small magical barriers within the wound to staunch the rapid flow of blood. Her daughter was already unnaturally pale from blood loss, and the rattle coming with each breath told the mother monster that one of her lungs was punctured.

"What are you doing to that child you freak!?" shouted one of the humans, lashing out with a booted foot in an effort to kick Toriel away from Frisk.

Big mistake. (Go to author's notes)

The boot hit her shoulder, and didn't so much as budge her. She was larger and significantly stronger than these humans, so virtually the moment that foot came into contact with her shoulder, her hand was already slapping it away with such force that the man spun like a top for three full turns, then fell backwards in a heap on the ground. It would have been comical, had his foot not been bent at an awkward angle.

With the bleeding stopped for the moment, her eyes snapped up and glared at the soldiers. Slowly, she rose up to her feet, hands drenched in the blood of her daughter...blood that they had allowed to be released from her body. The soldiers were mesmerized, their training being insufficient to content with her sheer size, nor the burning anger in her ordinarily gentle brown eyes.

"What am -I- doing? I am attempting to save the life of my daughter. I am trying to heal the wound that YOU inflicted upon her. And YOU are trying to stop me!" she snarled, her fangs bared in anger.

The air around her slowly became uncomfortably hot for the humans. They snapped back to reality, and their weapons snapped back to Toriel after having drifted somewhat. She momentarily looked down at the guns, then back up at the humans, her eyes narrowing dangerously...she was capable of a very nasty glare on the best of days...this day, her eyes spoke of death. It was enough to spook one soldier into bringing his rifle up to his shoulder, his aim going straight at her head. He never stood a chance.

The fire that ignited around the soldier was instantaneous...it was likely he didn't feel the pain as he was instantly cremated, his ashes joining those produced by the forest fire. Two of the soldiers pulled their triggers immediately, hoping to catch her in a lethal spray of bullets. Toriel reacted much faster, her hands lashing out and slapping both guns upwards, having seen the one soldier do that with the other. She hit them with such force that the guns were torn completely out of their hands and sent two dozen feet in the air at least, the force of the impact breaking their fingers and causing them to lose balance and fall down as well.

Only a few half-moments had passed by, and the remaining two soldiers began to react, the one with the radio once again trying to reach for it, this time to call for reinforcements, and the other snapping off a quick burst from his rifle. Toriel was already in motion, leaning back out of the way and narrowly avoiding getting shot. Her hands, glowing white with power, lashed out at the two standing soldiers and unleashed a torrent of flames, burning them to crisps. Their charred, blackened corpses fell to the ground even as she turned her full attention back to the remaining three. Without a word, they lifted their injured comrade and ran back down the path with him, getting a surprising amount of speed, a minor miracle considering the state of their fingers.

Toriel didn't bother watching them go, instead kneeling back down next to Frisk and focusing on healing her. She pushed aside the sickness she felt within her at having taken lives, her anger and sadness acting as a barrier to stop the feeling of regret. She did not feel any guilt...they had harmed her child, and tried to harm her...if her daughter died, there would be no more mercy. Her hands glowed a warm, almost sunlight white as her magic healed flesh, bone, muscle and sinew. The wound was severe, and it took several minutes to completely heal...but when it was finished, even though Frisk still looked incredibly pale, Toriel was certain she would pull through.

Her floppy ears twitched slightly as she heard dozens of feet approaching from a distance. A grimace formed on her muzzle as she reached down and gently stroked some stray hair away from her daughter's pale face,"Do not worry, my child, these brutal animals shall not take you."

Getting to her feet once more, she turned to face down the path. The smoke was significantly lighter, and she could see a long line of human soldiers, men and women, advancing on her with weapons drawn. Giving a slight huff, she raised herself to her full height and yelled,"If you value your lives, be somewhere else! I-" she began, only to be cut off by the sounds of bullets hitting the burned out tree trunks and ground around her, some even whizzing by her ears.

The mother monster wasted no more time, her hands rising and glowing with power. Waves of fireballs were unleashed, woven into intricate patterns. She couldn't afford to take precise aim, as there were so many foes, and had to settle for their general direction. Soldiers dove out of the way, taking cover as fire rained down among them. Some were not fortunate, and screamed as they were immolated by the magical flames. Toriel herself was not a static target, either...she moved with an elegant grace, weaving around...making it much harder for them to hit her, as if she were dancing to a song only she could hear.

The battle lasted for several long minutes, her movements, the lingering smoke in the air, and the soldiers having to constantly dodge her fireballs making it near impossible for them to hit her. They moved forward in small groups...one group would shoot at her to grab her attention while another moved forward, gradually closing the distance. Shallow wounds began to mar her white fur due to hot bullets grazing her as they flew by, her flowing robes gaining a few slightly singed tears as well.

The fight could have lasted far longer, but that's when the tank arrived. It gave Toriel pause, her eyes widening at the unfamiliar sight, the large metal object not something she knew anything of. She did, however, recognize that the long tube poking out from its slowly rotating top was a larger version of what the soldiers had. Turning around, she threw herself over Frisk just as the machine fired, a high explosive round hitting the forest floor six feet to her left and exploding. The breath was knocked out of her lungs, small cuts forming on her as she was blasted by shrapnel. Her ears rang loudly, her vision narrowing dangerously to a point as consciousness threatened to leave her. She could see the soldiers moving up around her, looking down and taking aim.

Toriel closed her eyes and pulled herself tighter to Frisk, determined to shield her daughter from what was to come. She could feel her consciousness slipping away, and she opened her eyes one last time.

The last thing she saw before the darkness came was a large red trident knocking the soldiers away en-mass, their blood spraying in the air.

 **Author's notes:** I had a completely different section written up for the end sequence here, but I decided I didn't like it. Next chapter will be somewhat less dark than this one, and will do the past/present thing as well. Thank you, by the way, for the kind reviews! They are appreciated, and I do read them! Oh, and I tried to incorporate a link, but it didn't take. When you get to Big Mistake, go to this song, Undertale: Heartache (Toriel Battle) - Metal Cover || RichaadEB, then proceed on reading.


	5. Chapter 4: Lost time

Chapter 4: Lost time.

She was in blackness, a weight gently pressing her down into the abyss below. She'd felt a warmth coursing through her before, a familiar and welcome sensation that had taken the pain away. She could feel her soul shudder, trying to break her free of the blackness and take her to a place of joy and gentleness, but ever since the pain had been taken away its struggles had grown more and more feeble, as if it realized something had changed.

There was a distant clap of thunder, loud but muffled that pierced through the blackness. It startled her, shaking whatever had been weighing her down off, and she slowly began to rise. Up, up she went, the blackness slowly becoming less absolute. She was aware of voices shouting...they sounded so angry, but so far away. She could feel someone touching her cheek, gently, and with tremendous effort she opened her eyes. Worried brown eyes stared down into her own...they were so familiar to her. She knew these eyes...knew them, loved them, and somehow knew instinctively that they were the source of the warmth that had driven the pain away.

With a great deal of effort, she raised her arms up, and she felt herself being gently picked up...the sensation was distant, but still so very comforting. Once again operating on instinct, she reached forward and wrapped her arms around something soft and pulled herself close, snuggling down in the comforting warmth she felt pressing against her. Someone was pressing their large hand against her back and gently rubbing, while another equally large hand supported her via her bottom. Briefly, she saw the world around her...it was bright, and fuzzy...she couldn't see many details, but she could make out one very large blob walking alongside a smaller one. She knew these blobs as well...the short blob that seemed to be looking at her with a glowing eye was especially familiar.

Suddenly, she felt so very tired. Closing her eyes once more Frisk fell asleep, letting the soft bobbing motion of the person carrying her to lull her back into the blackness.

* * *

...(Past)...

Frisk had woken up early the next morning, feeling relaxed and refreshed for the first time since she'd come out of her coma two days prior. Getting up out of her sleeping bag (all the beds were already stowed in wagons for the trip to the surface), she stretched slightly and went to the washroom to do her morning ablutions. Ordinarily, the lack of toilet would have been a problem, but eating monster food meant she didn't have to worry about such things. As she brushed her teeth, she idly wondered how monster food did the same thing normal food did but without the...extra. Then she wrinkled her nose and decided that thinking too much about poop wasn't something she should be doing first thing in the morning. Or ever, really.

After her teeth were brushed, she stripped down and stepped into the last remaining functional shower in the castle (much of the piping having been removed during the widening of the hall) and cleaned herself, humming a faint tune as she did. Mettaton had given her some MTT-brand toiletries when he'd arrived for the party last night, and the strawberry-scented shampoo was an extremely nice surprise. Thus, as she showered the whole room filled with the scent of those delicious berries, and she had no doubt that she would smell of the same for quite awhile during the day.

It didn't take Frisk long to get cleaned up and dried off and, once again dressed in her baby blue nightgown, she was about to walk back to her room...well, technically it had been Asgore's, but he and Toriel had insisted that the children have their own rooms so they could sleep peacefully, and they had set up (separately) in the living room... when she heard Asriel's door opening and spotted the little boss monster stumbling sleepily out of his room. He noticed her and gave a little wave, yawning widely enough that she could count his teeth if she'd desired.

"Howdy Frisk," he said after he'd finished yawning, smiling at her as he walked towards the washroom (and thus her),"you're up early."

"Good morning Asriel, I could say the same about you," she replied, a return smile on her lips as she paused to give the young monster a warm, friendly hug,"Did you sleep well?"

He returned her hug, parting from her after a moment and continuing on his way,"I slept ok, had a nightmare early on...but I managed to get to sleep right after."

She frowned a bit at his mention of a nightmare, after all everyone knew firsthand that nightmares were no fun,"That's too bad, but at least it only happened once," she said, turning and heading for her own room. Behind her, she heard Asriel open the bathroom door and step inside.

She also heard him exclaim,"Whoa, strawberries!"

With a giggle, she finished the short journey to her room and went inside, intent on changing into her clothes and heading out to help finish packing. They were leaving early tomorrow, after all, and there were still things to get ready...and Frisk was determined to help her adoptive family be ready to go!

...()...

"No, my child, you do not need to help us pack. You have already helped us enough...more than enough...and you just woke up from a coma a very short time ago. Until I am satisfied that you have had enough time to recuperate, you shall not do anything too strenuos," Toriel said adamantly as she heated a grill up using her fire magic, a gentle flame burning from nothing beneath the flat metal surface.

"But..."

"Now Frisk, you need to listen to your mother. There will be lots of work to do when we find a place to settle outside, and you can help then," chimed in Asgore as he mixed up some pancake batter, an old manual crank egg beater in his hands.

Frisk huffed slightly and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown. This conversation had not gone as intended.

Toriel saw her expression out of the corner of her eye and giggled slightly, finding it adorable, before turning her attention to Asgore with a look that was...well, an improvement over before. They'd stayed up late into the night talking, and seem to have come to some sort of understanding,"Are you done with the batter yet? Asriel will be here soon and my two darlings will be hungry."

If the lack of the word 'our' in the sentence bothered Asgore, he was good at not reacting to it, instead turning to Toriel with the bowl and a smile,"All done! Sorry, I just wanted to make sure there were no small bits of egg shell getting mixed in."

Toriel eyed him dubiously, before turning her head away and starting to work on the pancakes. She hid her small smile well, pleased that time and events had not changed her ex-husband for the worse, and began adding the batter to the grill. The thick goop starting to sizzle and lightly smoke the moment it hit the flat surface of the black metal cooking device.

It was roughly at that moment that the sound of little feet could be heard running into the living room. This was followed half a moment later by Asriel entering the kitchen, pausing for a moment to sniff the air loudly, a wide smile on his muzzle as he proclaimed,"Golly, I smell PANCAKES!"

"That is correct, my child. Now go and get one of the blankets in the living room and spread it out on the floor so we may have a comfortable place to eat," said the mother monster over her shoulder.

Asgore busied himself by brewing them all a pot of tea, decades upon decades of experience making the process second nature to him,"There should be an unused one folded in the armchair, son," he said, watching the pot carefully to ensure just the right amount of heat was applied to it with his own fire magic.

"Ok! Wanna help, Frisk?"

Still somewhat in a funk about not being allowed to help prepare for the move to the surface, the human turned and stomped out of the kitchen and into the living room, Asriel giving her a confused look as she passed by him.

"Was it something I said?" he wondered aloud.

* * *

...(Present)...

Frisk faded in and out of consciousness as she was carried down the long corridor that had formerly been blocked by the magical barrier. She heard sobbing, monsters calling out to one another, looking for some that had been missing. Sometimes she felt hands gently touch her as she was carried by, sounds and words of sympathy directed towards Toriel and herself, as well as shock and disbelief.

"The attacked one of their own..."

"Frisk? They tried to kill Frisk!?"

"What kind of animals would attack a child?"

"They killed some of us, and they tried to kill the new princess. Something must be done!"

These were some of the things she heard, and in her subconscious she could feel the sadness, anger...and the beginnings of hatred forming behind the words. She knew things couldn't be allowed to stand like this. This was a horrible mistake...it had been such a bad idea for everyone to flood out at once! But she hadn't thought of that, because during every other timeline when she'd freed the monsters, everything had gone smoothly. But in those timelines, the nearest human town...her town...was greeted by a small group of monsters and human child. They had been so much less threatening because only her and her friends had stepped outside that day. This time...thousands of monsters...it must have looked like an invasion.

"Asgore was right all along. Humans, except for the princess, can't be trusted."

She tried to speak up, but it was so hard...her tongue felt as if it weighed a ton, and it made her dizzy when she tried to focus.

"We should kill them. They attacked first, they hurt US first!"

"No..." she whimpered, the words coming out slowly,"Don't..."

"Kill the humans."

"Stop...please...they didn't...know..."

"Kill the humans!"

"No...no...no..."

Frisk's eyes snapped open and she sat up straight, throwing the blanket that had been draped over her off, tears running down her cheeks,"NO! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" she exclaimed, snapping her head to the side when she felt a bony hand grab her shoulder.

It was Sans. His perpetual smile was still present, but the way he looked at her...it was a look of fatigue, but of deep sadness. Sniffling, she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him for all she was work, crying out the pain in her soul as everything she had worked so hard for started to unravel. She could feel Sans patting her head as she cried, his other hand gently rubbing her back.

"Shhhh...it's alright kid...you're safe," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle and caring, lacking his usual humor. He sounded tired, as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders.

After a few minutes her sobs slowly quieted down to sniffles, then finally she was spent. Leaning back, she grimaced slightly at the wet spots on the front of the skeleton's jacket, looking slightly ashamed for soiling it with her tears. Sans noticed her look and chuckled slightly, ruffling her hair and taking a step back.

"Don't worry about my jacket, 'cause I've gotta wash it anyway."

The human took a moment to take in her surroundings, noticing that she was lying on a portable cot in her room at Toriel's cottage in the ruins. The room was barren except for the cot; no furniture remained, and what had been here was no doubt abandoned along with a lot of other belongings at Newer Home. She frowned slightly, wondering where her mother was...it was really strange for her not to be here.

Sans noticed her looking around and guessed what she was wondering,"Your mother's at the castle with Undyne, Asgore, and the rest of the Royal Guard...they're holding a war council," he said, his voice grim.

Frisk snapped her attention back to him, her eyes wide,"We have to stop them, Sans..." she said, trying to get up off the cot, only to fall back down when a wave of weakness and dizziness overwhelmed her. The skeleton reached out and caught her as she fell back, gently easing her back down onto the bed,"Help me up...we have to stop this before it gets worse..."

"I don't know how much worse it could get, kid. We were lucky...it was a good thing you'd taken me with you, otherwise we probably would have lost hundreds rather than twenty," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed with her,"After what happened out there...I don't think there's much hope of peace. Even now, the humans are setting up outside the exit to the Underground, and it's only gonna be a matter of time until they try to break in. Me, Muffet, and Papyrus bound up the old barrier hall with thick webs and bones, things that would slow the humans down a lot but still let us get out."

"Sans...you don't understand...this was all a mistake!"

"No, you don't understand!" he said, his left eye glowing suddenly as his voice grew intense,"They attacked us. They killed us. They even tried to kill you! It don't matter that it was a mistake, kid, everyone wants revenge...there's so much anger out there that I don't think that even a huge apology from the humans will stop the war. And honestly, I can't blame them!" he said, his voice growing louder with each word, causing Frisk to cringe back from him. Seeing this he sighed, reigning his anger in. Once his eye stopped glowing, he reached out and gently patted her knee,"Those monsters that died were my friends, and someone's family...and not only that, they tried to kill the heroine that rescued us from this hell," he added, waving his hand around at the room.

Seeing that Sans had calmed down, Frisk relaxed slightly and asked,"What about mom? Surely she won't stand for this again."

The short skeleton remained silent, but he did look away as if pained.

The human frowned,"Sans?"

Taking a deep breath, he turned back and said,"The queen is the one who demanded the war council, kid. Your mother...look at it from her perspective. First, the humans imprisoned us all down here. Next, they killed her son. Now, they're trying to kill us all...but more importantly, they tried kill you...and she has no doubt they would have tried to kill Asriel again," he looked away again,"I know that's the last thing you wanted to hear...but she's had enough."

Frisk looked down at her lap, an immense sadness washing over her. Slowly, she began to speak,"This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Sans. After I rescued finally rescued Asriel, we were all supposed to go to the surface and live happily ever after. There was supposed to be peace between the humans and the monsters...everyone was supposed to win," she said, her voice slowly gaining strength, slowly gaining...determination,"And I know what went wrong...it's so simple...and I can fix it."

Sans looked at her again, before getting to his feet,"You're not serious, are you?"

Frisk stared stared straight forward, her normally squinted eyes narrower than usual.

The skeleton slapped his hand agaisnt his forehead, a dry clack sounding in the room as bone met bone,"Of course you are," he muttered, before dropping his hand to his side again,"Kid, you're messin' with things too much. I can already tell that using this power of yours has been puttin' a strain on your soul...there's gonna be a price to pay if you keep it up trying to find the 'perfect' ending."

She didn't turn to face him, but she did say,"Two or three more times. That's how much more I can try before...well...before it won't matter anymore."

"I know I can't stop you from doing this...and I know I'm gonna be pretty pissed at you for it," he said, resting a bony hand on her shoulder,"But I trust ya, kid, and I know I'll understand why you had to do it."

Frisk smiled up at him, bringing her hand up and resting it on his,"I know. You'll just be pissed because you think I'm toying around with the timeline for my own amusement...that's one of the reasons I like you, Sans. You're always worried about everyone else."

Sans chuckled slightly, shaking his head slightly as he gave her shoulder a squeeze,"You put too much faith in me...I mean, I have a pretty vested interest in not having someone toy with the timeline," he said, pulling his hand away,"Now do what you've gotta do."

With a slight smile, Frisk closed her eyes and called forth her power. At first there was a dull ache in her chest, then an intense pain...and then she was surrounded by white.

* * *

...(Between Time)...

Well...this was certainly unusual.

Frisk floated in a sea of white, a sky of white over her head. She vaguely wondered how she'd gotten here...felt like she was in the middle of something important. The human could hear voices, like distant echoes...some were her voice, others were her friends. Turning her head, she strained to hear them, curious to what they were saying.

"What happened? Why is she screaming like that? Asgore, what did you do!?"

"Her soul! Look at her soul! By the ancestors, what's wrong with it!?"

Frisk frowned, shying away from that echo...they sounded like her mother and Undyne. Whatever they were talking about sounded distinctly unpleasant, and she wanted nothing to do with it. So with a little effort, she moved away from it, tuning out the rest of whatever was being said there. The found herself drifting towards another echo, and hoped it wasn't like the last one.

"Howdy Frisk! What've you got behind your back?"

"Happy 11th birthday Asriel! I hope you like it..."

"You really didn't have to get this for me. It must have cost you a fortune!"

"I saved up my allowance for it...I saw you looking at it really hard in the store, so..."

"Well golly...thank you. Thank you very much!"

The human smiled slightly, finding this echo to be much more pleasant. Try as she might, however, she couldn't stay next to it...she seemed to be caught in some sort of current, and it pulled her right by the echo no matter how hard she struggled against it. With a sigh, Frisk gave up trying and let herself be pulled away, noticing that she seemed to be coming up on another echo right away.

"Mom! Uhhh..w-what are you doing home?"

"Do not 'mom' me young lady!"

"Ow! My ear!"

"You must come with me right now. And you, Asriel, get out of that car and wait for us kitchen!"

Frisk blinked slightly at this one, as clearly one voice was her own...only she sounded a bit older...and the other was Toriel using her 'angry mother' voice. She blinked...how did she know her mother even HAD an angry mother voice? She'd never heard it before...or had she? This was all very confusing, and the current felt stronger than before. Before she knew it, she was pulled away from the echo and heading further away. She could hear some sort of roar in the distance, like a waterfall...only it sounded darker, crueller. Raising her head, she saw a great black void in the distance...she was passing by other echoes now at an ever increasing speed, not giving her the chance to hear what was being said.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her with bony hands and stop her progress, much to her relief. She couldn't turn and face the person who had her, but she could hear what sounded like labored breathing as whoever it was struggled against the current with her in tow. After what seemed like an eternity, the tug of the current grew less and less, and she felt herself being pulled onto some sort of shore. Sitting up slowly, she noticed that this 'shore' was distinctly black when compared to the pure whiteness of the sky and sea, but it wasn't the deep nothingness that whatever that void had been made of.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw a partially melted skeleton, on his face was an exhausted but kindly smile.

His lips moved, and his hands made motions...it was if he was trying to communicate using sign language, something she had never learned. With a sad smile, Frisk shook her head and said,"I'm sorry, I don't understand you."

With what could only be described as a look of exasperation, the skeleton reached forward and flicked her painfully in the forehead. She yelped a little bit not only from the contact, but from the fact that it felt like she'd be zapped by a snap of static electricity. Reaching up to her forehead, she rubbed it and looked at the man crossly. She then blinked when, as he began to sign again, she understood what he was telling her.

'Can you understand me now?' he asked, his hands moving swiftly.

"Yes, I can...what did you do?"

'Something that's only possible here. If we were elsewhere, well...'

"So...where are we, exactly?"

'Everywhere. Nowhere.'

Frisk blinked,"Excuse me?"

'This place is your timestream. It is your special thread in the grand scheme of things.'

"My special thread? That explains stopping and starting...but Sans said something about..timelines jumping from right to left?"

The man chuckled dryly, before his hands began signing again,'You didn't look very closely at the stream...if you had, you'd see it was made up of an infinite number of silken threads, each a different...possibility. From within the real world, it looks as if a train suddenly jumped from one track to another...what's actually happening is a simple movement along the strands, each decision a nexus for a multitude of repercussion. Every choice you make causes someone else to make a choice of their own, and so on and so on...that's why the 'tree' model of multiverse theory...' he stopped signing, noticing that his young audience was starting to adopt a glazed expression,'Well, there's no need to go into that much detail.'

"So what were the echoes I heard?"

'Whirlpools in the stream caused by your power. Because of how far you've become stretched, you created eddies whose bottoms connected with particular points in time, bringing them to the surface.'

"Wait...what do you mean by 'stretched'?"

The slightly melted skeleton looked away, off into the distance,'The one who was inhabiting your soul with you...she was only partially right when she warned you. Because you used your power so much, your soul filled with raw timestream energy. Now ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem...the energy intake is actually very, very small. But in your case,' he looked back to the young human, his hollow black eyes somehow conveying seriousness,'you used it so much that it filled your soul. Only your determination kept the walls of your soul fortified, preventing you from stretching...but rather that having a few more tries...this was your last.'

Frisk looked down at her lap, folding her hands neatly. She stayed silent for a few long moments, the pair listening to the distant roar of the void as the weight of his words sunk in. Finally, looking up at him again, she asked,"Am I dead, then?"

The man shook his head slightly,'No...but it was a close thing. Even now, your friends are trying to save you...and they are succeeding. Sans has formed a cage of skeleton magic around your soul, stopping it from stretching and ripping itself apart. Papyrus is with him, using his magic to force your soul back to its proper shape, bit by bit. As he manages to shrink your soul, his brother closes the cage around a little tighter.'

"So...what am I doing here, then?"

'Why ask me? You're the one that forced yourself away from your destination.'

"The first echo..."

'Yes. Now that you've separated from the current of the timestream, you should be able to make your way back easily enough.'

"But won't I get swept up again?"

The man shook his head,'Only if you let yourself be taken.'

Getting to her feet, Frisk looked upstream in the direction she came from,"I'd better get back, then. Boy, Alphys is going to have a field day when I tell her all about this!"

'You won't remember any of this,' he said, getting to his feet as well and moving to stand beside the young human,'While your determination is powerful, you're missing a few key components...something I hope you forever lack...otherwise, you could end up trapped here, like me.'

Frisk looked at him sadly,"You're trapped here? How?"

'An experiment gone wrong a very long time ago. I became so stretched that my connection to my own stream simply and completely...vanished. If you could see it, you would notice the threads merging into one, solid strand at the point I had my accident.'

Realization dawned on Frisk, then, and she felt a bit stupid for not realizing it sooner,"You're Gaster..."

Gaster smiled slightly,'I see my name still gets around...despite everything. Now...no more questions, no more talk...you need to get back to where you belong.'

Frisk was about to protest, but instead she sighed slightly before smiling,"You're right...if I won't remember there isn't much point in arguing," she said, stepping closer to the edge of the little shore they had been standing on,"You...take care of yourself, ok? There are still people thinking of you in the real world," she added, before jumping out into the stream and swimming away.

After she'd gotten a little ways, she rolled over onto her back and waved back at the old skeleton, who was still standing on the shore watching her go. He raised his hand and waved back, before turning around and walking off further into the whiteness, gradually fading from view. Rolling back onto her stomach, the young human continued on her way. She was surprised, given how hard it had been to fight the stream earlier, at how easy it was to swim in it now. In fact, it really didn't take her all that long to get back to the echo she had started at...and once again, she heard the same unpleasant event unfolding.

Even so, knowing that there was a future beyond this point filled Frisk with determination, and the young girl swam straight into the echo. The whiteness around her grew brighter and brighter, until she was briefly filled with an intense pain as if her soul were under tremendous pressure...and then nothing, as consciousness left her.

 **Author's notes:** And another chapter done. This was the last particularly dark chapter for awhile...there will be others in the future. I haven't decided yet when to end this story...it could be after two more chapters, or it could continue on with everything I have planned. There will come a point where the title of the story will become inaccurate, and that point is fast approaching. But, maybe I'll just slap a 'book II' notice in or something. Anyway, hope this was worth the wait! And thank you again for reading.


	6. Chapter 5: Back on Track

**Chapter 5:** Back on track

"Dr. Alphys, can you tell us anything about what's going on with her soul?"

The question came from Asgore. The king of all monsterkind was seated in his throne, a tired and worried look in his eyes as he lightly stroked his beard. The rest of Frisk's immediate friends were present in the throne room as well, sitting in chairs around a table that had all been unpacked for this meeting. Each of them was nursing a cup of tea, brewed by Asgore himself, and nibbling on pink, heart shaped cookies that had been brought by the uncustomarily somber Mettaton. The monster in question, Alphys, stood up from her seat and cleared her throat timidly.

"W-well...it's not s-something I've ever seen before...a-and um..." she reached up and gently adjusted her glasses,"it's not mentioned in any of my scientific books, either. It's like her soul is filled w-with some k-kind of energy, and only her determination is k-keeping it in place."

The king nodded slightly, before looking over at the pair of skeletons that were sitting directly on his right. As Alphys sat back down, Asgore regarded the pair with a certain intensity which reminded them of exactly why he was king, despite his normally un-kingly nature,"I owe you both for acting so quickly to save my adopted daughter, however I am afraid I have to be a bit suspicious. You especially, Sans, seem to know more about what was happening than anyone else."

The smaller skeleton looked slightly uncomfortable at the scrutiny, but he couldn't blame the king for asking. Looking over at his unusually quiet brother for a moment, he turned his full attention to Asgore and sighed slightly,"I have an idea of what's goin' on, but it's not really my place to talk about it."

A fist slammed into the table, causing the cups and plates to rattle slightly,"Answer the king's questions, skeleton, or being Papyrus's brother won't save you!" snarled Undyne, the fish monster clearly upset about what she had witnessed happening to her 'bestie'. She'd been the first to arrive when she'd heard Frisk screaming at the top of her lungs in pain, and had been shaken by what she'd seen happening to her friend's soul.

Toriel raised a hand, having (after refusing her old throne) take up a chain on Asgore's left side, her face stern,"Calm down, captain, this is no time for rash actions," she said, then turning her eyes to Sans with a pleading look,"Please...is there not anything you can tell us?"

Sans scratched his cheek and sighed, looking down in thought. He than began slowly, choosing his words carefully,"The kid has...a power...that's beyond anything we've ever known. It lets her...I guess 'store' points in time that she can return to at any point she needs to...and even restart our entire timeline," he said, eliciting gasps from around the table, except from his brother who seemed to nod slightly,"There's a price to be paid for using the power...but it shouldn't have done this..."

The queen frowned slightly,"What would have made it do this, then?"

"If she used it too much. I don't know for sure how much things have changed, or what she changed...all I can get are impressions and a sense of deja-vu," he explained, trailing off into silence. The throne room was silent for a few moments, Toriel looking down at her lap and frowning in thought.

"Well surely, darling, the human had to have had a good reason for doing what she did," said Mettaton, speaking up after a few moments,"I mean, it's not like she'd use us in her own personal game, is it?"

There was some uncomfortable shifting as, briefly, the room considered that thought. It wasn't entirely implausible...after all, humans had trapped them down here, and may have sent her down to tormen-

"No...she didn't do it for that," said the smaller skeleton swiftly, his tone firm and certain as his left eye flashed briefly. Everyone else, save Toriel and Papyrus, looked relieved and a bit ashamed. Aside from Sans, his brother and the queen both had known Frisk the longest and believed she would never use her power to harm them. Sans...had a feeling that things weren't so clean cut, but knew better than to speak about it.

The queen stared at Sans intently, her eyes searching his as she finally asked,"Why did she do it then, Sans? How can you answer with such certainty?"

The skeleton held her gaze for several long moments, a battle of wills taking place between them, before Sans finally looked away and slumped back down,"Because she was lookin' for the 'perfect ending'," he replied, looking back up at both the queen and now the king as well,"I ain't sayin' more than that."

Toriel looked confused at first, then thoughtful...and finally a look of horror and realization dawned on her face,"She...she was trying to save Asriel, was she not? She did this to herself to save our son!" she said, tears pooling in her eyes as she turned her head to look Asgore.

Asgore looked saddened...discovering that Frisk had nearly killed herself trying to save Asriel wasn't a shock, it only made the king more certain he had chosen wisely when he'd decided to adopt her,"Then we owe her even more than we thought we did. But she didn't have this problem yesterday, all the tests on her soul checked out...what changed?"

Sans scowled slightly, still upset that her promise had apparently been broken so soon,"She used her power again...my guess is that her soul was pushed to the brink before, and this time she pushed it too far..."

The king nodded in agreement,"It would seem that way, now that we have more pieces of the puzzle. The question is, why? What made her come back to this point?"

Undyne closed her eye in contemplation,"If everything we know about her is right...it's no coincidence that she came back now, before we left for the surface, either. She'd go back to the best point to stop whatever happened from happening."

Alphys cleared her throat slightly,"It m-must have been something awful..." she added,"If she thought she absolutely had to use her power, there must have been no other ch-choice...we know how much determination she has, and if t-there were another way to fix the problem, sh-she would have t-taken it."

"It was bad..." came a familiar, if faint voice from the entrance to the throne room.

Almost everyone turned their head swiftly to see a very pale Frisk, being supported by a somewhat ashmed looking Asriel in the doorway. Toriel, the moment she'd heard her daughter's voice, was on her feet and swiftly moving, almost running, around the table with worry in her eyes. The little boy monster seemed to shrink back when her eyes turned to him, accusation in them, but Frisk tiredly put her hand up and diverted the mother monster's attention back to her.

"Don't...be mad at Asriel, mother...I begged him...to bring me here," she took a breath, then continued,"I shamed him by saying I would crawl here if he didn't."

Toriel knelt down in front of the pair, pulling them both into a gentle, warm hug,"I wish you would have stayed in bed, my child...and back to bed you will go once you have said what you need to say," she said sternly, the sting of her tone tempered by the love they heard behind it. Wrapping her hands around Frisk, she said to Asriel,"Let her go, my child, I will take her to the table."

Asriel did what he was told, releasing Frisk before looking down at his feet,"I didn't want to bring her here, but she said it was important..." he trailed off.

Supporting Frisk with one arm, the mother monster reached out and gently rubbed Asriel's head,"I know, my child...this one is a handful when she is determined," she said with a smile, before standing and taking Frisk over to the table where they others sat. Gently, she sat Frisk down upon it in front of her seat, then sitting herself down and reaching up to help her daughter sit up straight.

Frisk, for her part, slowly turned to face her gathered friends, silently hating herself for the worry she had put on their faces. Even Sans, who was regarding her slightly more cooly than the rest, was frowning in concern. She knew he was bothered by the fact she had used her power in, as he would perceive it, such a short time after promising not to use it unless absolutely necessary. She also knew that once she explained herself, he would understand.

Clearing his throat, Asgore assumed a much more kindly, fatherly tone...the one everyone was used to hearing from him on a daily basis,"Go on, daughter...tell us. Take as much time as you need to...we all know you are not recovered yet."

Frisk gave her adoptive father a ghost of a smile, before growing serious. Her eyes, normally mostly closed anyway, were hardly open even for her as she mustered the strength to speak,"Everyone...can't leave the Underground all at once. If we do...the humans will attack," there were gasps of disbelief in the room, as well as a couple sounds of anger. She could see Sans staring at her, his eye glowing as he took her words in.

"Just what did you see, kid?" he murmured sadly, unheard, as his eye stopped glowing.

Frisk raised her hand weakly, trying to get everyone's attention, but they had started to chat noisly among themselves and she went unnoticed. Asriel saw this, and at the top of his little lungs yelled,"She's not done yet! Let her finish!"

After a moment, her friends returned their attention to her...she made a mental note to thank the monster boy later, before taking a breath and resuming,"You have to think about it from their side...a whole bunch of people, monsters, come out of a mountain all at once and start using strange powers to change things around them to suit them better, all near to one of their villages. They have no idea that everyone is actually nice...all they see are things from bad dreams and scary stories. The people in charge thought they were protecting their people...they didn't know they were..." she swallowed slightly, a bitter taste forming in her mouth at her next words,"...they didn't know they were killing good people. And even some of the soldiers, once they saw no-one was really fighting back, started to try to avoid fighting..." she murmured, remembering the soldiers letting the Froggits go, even though they could have followed after killing the Knight Knight.

She didn't tell them she had been shot...she didn't tell them that they had been in the process of getting ready for war with the humans just before she used her power. She could see Sans staring at her intently out of the corner of her eye, and knew that he knew she wasn't telling them everything. Still, he said nothing, letting the story stand as it was.

"Oh, you poor dear. You really went through a lot, didn't you darling?"

"DO NOT WORRY, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GO TO THE SURFACE AND MAKE SURE IT IS SAFE TO LEAVE THE UNDERGROUND!"

"That's the job of the Royal Guard you bonehead!"

"BUT SURELY I'VE PROVEN MYSELF BY NOW, UNDYNE, SO MAYBE-"

"No! It's too dangerous to...uh...let someone as inexperienced as you take on such a serious duty."

Asgore lightly tapped the table with his knuckles, bringing order back to the meeting. His expression was far more serious than it had been in a very long time, and he turned the full weight of his stare onto Frisk. He seemed to be struggling with something, and the corners of his muzzle contorted slightly as if there was a bad taste in his mouth. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed, before speaking softly,"The humans would not trust even a single monster on his or her own...they would panic. We are, judging from everything, nothing but a myth to them now. Frisk, when you accepted being brought into our family, the weight of responsibility fell onto your shoulders," he snorted slightly,"although you have been doing more for us, it seems, than we could ever possibly know or thank you properly for."

Toriel looked over at him, her expression showing that she believed she knew what Asgore was about to ask, but didn't want to leap to conclusions.

"I am going to have to ask you to go with a monster of your choosing to the hu-"

"Do not dare, Asgore!" Toriel snarled, the motherly monster letting go of Frisk and jumping to her feet again, this time knocking her chair backwards several feet in the process. Her large, furry hands were clenched into fists as she glared angrily at the king, who shrank back a little but otherwise held her gaze,"Do not DARE send her out, not with what she just went through! She needs food and rest, not work!"

Asgore looked pained, but stood slowly and held his ground, staring down at the slightly shorter boss monster,"There isn't any other choice, Toriel. If we delay for too much longer, either everyone's hope will drop and they will give up, or they will riot and force their way to freedom," he replied, his voice even and calm. He held her angry gaze for another few moments, before looking away slightly,"Do not think I would do this if there were another choice...they need to see a human safe with a monster to help them be unafraid of us, to help stop what she risked her very existence to come back and warn us about," he looked back to the mother monster, his eyes pleading,"Please, Toriel...please understand."

While the king had been speaking, Undyne had quietly gotten up and grabbed the queen's chair, putting it back nearby so that she could sit back down. It was fortunate she did, for within a moment Toriel did indeed sit back down, sinking down slowly into the chair putting her head in her hands with her elbows on the table.

"I know, Asgore...but it is wrong! She needs time to rest, time to regain her strength!" she said, flinching slightly when she felt the king put his hand on her shoulder, and then again when she felt a small hand gently touch her arm. Peeking up over her hands, her brown eyes filled with frustration, she saw her adoptive daughter smiling at her,"My child?"

"It's alright, mom...it doesn't have to be this minute...I can rest tonight and head out in the morning."

Toriel sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she weighed her thoughts. When she reopened her eyes, she smiled slightly and reached forward to lightly ruffle her daughter's hair with her large, warm, white-furred hand,"Very well, my child...I will trust that you are making the correct decision."

Asgore sighed with relief, smiling slightly at the side of his ex-wife's head, before turning his attention back to Frisk,"Now, the only question is...who will you take with you, daughter?"

Before Frisk could speak, Undyne stood up slowly from her seated position and smiled,"I should go with the pu-er, princess, your majesty. Out of everyone here, I'd be able to keep her the safest."

"No."

The word startled the captain of the royal guard a bit, and she turned to regard its source with a bit of hurt in her eyes...but she saw Frisk smiling up at her gently, and she felt the hurt fade.

"I know you'd keep me safe, Undyne, and if it were only that then there would be no question. But..." the human paused for a second, her eyes squeezing shut as a ripple of pain seemed to radiate outwards from her very soul. Sans flinched and started to stand, worried that his spell was failing...but sat back down when Frisk recovered. Taking a deep breath, and leaning back into the hand that her mother had placed on her back while the pain was happening, she continued,"But it would be best if someone less frightening went with me. Someone unthreatening, gentle, and who carries the same weight," she paused, the sentence leaving an unfamiliar weight on her shoulders...as if she was just realizing what being adopted by the Dreemurrs meant,"as me. And has an undeniable cute factor," she finished with a giggle, now looking directly at the boy monster she was describing.

Asriel, who had been standing slightly back from the table this whole time, blushed lightly and pulled his ears against his cheeks in an effort to hide it,"M-me?" he asked, uncertain.

"Yes, you. If you help me back to the village, it's less threatening than if one of the adults came. Plus...I don't think it should just be the two of us," she turned her attention to Sans,"We need someone who can find shortcuts and can help quickly if...if there's trouble, again," she said, regarding the smaller of the two skeleton brothers with respect,"Sans is the best person for that job...and I know he'll be good at it, because he helped me so much down here...and I don't think a certain someone has released him from his promise to watch over me yet," she said, the last part slightly sing-song as Toriel meeped slightly from behind her.

"I can explain, my child..."

Frisk shook her head,"I understand why you did it...and I appreciate that you cared enough about me to do it, mother," she replied softly, causing the motherly monster to smile warmly.

"I dunno kid, shortcuts down here and shortcuts up there are two different things...are you sure you don't want Undyne to watch out for you instead?" replied the skeleton slowly, his hands thrust firmly into his pockets as he regarded the human intently.

"Undyne would be great for getting us out of trouble...but...ah...she'd probably make things worse because she'd react so...passionately," she said, smiling apologetically at the fish monster, who shrugged and smirked.

"She's got a point. Besides, Sans, it would do you some good to actually do something for a change, rather than being a lazybones."

The skeleton turned his attention to Undyne, his usual smile back in place,"You know me too well."

Asgore listened to the goings on, stroking his beard slightly and nodding,"Very well...but no risks. Toriel and I lost two children in one day before, and I don't think we could bear to go through it again," he turned his attention to Sans,"At the first sign of serious trouble, you are to get them both out of harms way. Am I clear, Sans?"

Sans stood on his chair and bowed to the king,"One hundred percent, your majesty."

Asgore nodded again, before smiling and clapping his hands together,"Now that all the serious matters have been attended to, does anyone want a cup of tea?"

* * *

...()...

It was sometime later, after Asgore had brewed everyone a good cup of tea, that found Frisk being carried back to Asgore's, now her, room by Toriel. Her arms were wrapped around her mother's neck while supported by her mother's arms. She nuzzled her head against Toriel's shoulder and must have fallen asleep for a minute because when she woke up she was dressed in her nightclothes and tucked into bed.

The room was dark, indicating the door was closed, but she could feel a heavy weight at the foot of her bed, indicative of a certain motherly monster sitting there.

"Mom?" she murmured sleepily, rousing herself slightly.

The weight gave a little jump, as if startled, before a feminine throat cleared and it shifted slightly.

"My child...I have been thinking. I do not wish to pry, however..." Toriel paused, her tone clearly uncomfortable, before continuing,"We all know now that you have some kind of special power that allowed you to essentially travel through time..."

Frisk listened as her adoptive mother trailed off. She wanted so desperately to sit up and hug the much larger monster, but her body felt like lead and it was only with the greatest determination that she was able to keep her eyes open. She wanted to stay awake and listen.

Toriel shifted again, her silhouette barely visible in the light coming from beneath the door...she wasn't looking at Frisk directly, but the human could tell little beyond that,"My child...how many times did you reset the timeline? How many times did you reset in order to save Asriel?"

"I...don't really remember..." Frisk said, trying to dodge the topic. She knew her mother was feeling guilt, and no doubt Asgore did as well...and she didn't want to add to it.

"Frisk. Be honest with me," replied the monster, her tone stern but loving.

With a sigh, the human let her eyes stare straight up at the ceiling, her head sinking back even more into the pillow,"I lost count after a hundred...and it was a lot more than that. A lot more. I just couldn't seem to get it right...no matter how determined I was, no matter what actions I took...Asriel was always left behind to a lonely fate," she replied after a few moments, then closing her eyes as she thought back,"We would all get to the surface...and after a couple of weeks, the rest of the monsters would be led up as well...at the best of times. Other times...things went wrong, and only I would get out, or I'd have to restart the timeline early because something bad happened..."

Toriel listened intently, her large furry ears twitching slightly, and when Frisk stopped speaking she sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in thought. Finally, however, she reached out and touched her daughter's knee through the blanket, and looked in the direction she knew her head was in,"After you had been taken out of the throne room those two weeks ago, and Asriel had explained what had happened...I knew then you had sacrificed for us and for him. But I did not know the extent you had, my child...I did not know how much you had been forced to grow. In the way you talk, in the way you act...you are more mature in your mind than your body shows. But I want you to know that Asgore and I will do everything in our power to make sure you have a normal, happy childhood after this...as normal as possible considering your position. I want you to have a chance at a childhood...so after this, there will be few, if any, duties thrust upon you. This I swear, my child."

When there was no reply, Toriel stood and leaned in closely to her adoptive daughter's head, noting her breathing had changed to the rythm of deep sleep. A gentle, warm smile graced her muzzle as she leaned down and softly kissed Frisk's forehead, before quietly making her way out of the room. Her eyes, however, were filled with determination of her own...she was going to speak with Asgore, and she was certain that he would agree. After exiting to the hallway, doing her best to prevent too much light from entering the bedroom as she left, she gently closed the door behind her and quietly made her way back to the throne room.

As she arrived at the stairway, she noticed her son waiting for her with a slightly nervous expression. Toriel smiled warmly and stopped in front of him, kneeling down and pulling him into an embrace which he returned eagerly,"What is it, my child?"

Pulling back, Asriel looked at the ground and murmured,"I'm sorry for bringing her to the throne room...but she insisted, and I couldn't let her do it by herself."

The motherly monster shook her head slightly,"It is fine, my child...it was important for her to be there, and she understood that. I am pleased that you were there for her when she needed you...you are taking your brotherly role as seriously as you always have."

"Is...is Frisk going to be ok, mother?"

Toriel frowned...she wanted so badly speak a comforting lie, but it was against her nature to do so,"Truthfully, I do not know. What has happened to her soul is far beyond anything we have seen happen before. But I am certain that she will fight with all her determination to become well again," she added, reaching forward and gently rubbing the top of his head with a smile,"Of this, I am certain."

The young monster nodded slightly, returning his mother's smile,"I guess you're right...I'm just worried about her, that's all."

"I know, my child, I know," replied Toriel, before reaching down and gently taking Asriel's hand in hers,"Come, let Frisk have her sleep; we will see her first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I believe there are still a few things we need to discuss with your father and Sans about the trip to the surface," she finished as she lead him back towards the throne room.

Once they arrived, the meeting took on a lighter, if no less serious tone than before, and continued on fairly long into the night. Well before the end, Asriel had fallen asleep and was carried back to his room by his father, but all the important points regarding him and been covered. A plan was set, preparations were made, and soon it was just a matter of Frisk waking up and being ready to go. 

* * *

...(Soon...)...

* * *

 **Author's notes:** This chapter, for its size, took longer than I anticipated because of RL events. While I had planned on making it longer, I felt that this was a good stopping point to put out an update.

As I stated before, things are going to get lighter again, at least for a few chapters, but I've finalized what I want to do for the final chapter of this story (or at least of this arc. I'm still debating if I want to make a whole new story to carry on with events I have planned, or just do a 'Book II' thing) and it will involve more of a traditional Undertale boss battle ^^ Anyway, sorry about the delay.


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